Michael Joseph James Lewis has pleased guilty to 10 counts of breaching the general prohibition under Section 19 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, in that he continued to give mortgage advice to clients despite being prohibited by the FCA from doing so on 9 August 2011.
He also pleaded guilty to two counts of supplying/making an article for use in fraud under Section 7 of the Fraud Act 2006 for providing false employment details for two of his clients in order to inflate their incomes.
The 65-year old was originally arrested on the 24 October 2012 in a joint operation between the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Kent Police and charged by the FCA on 7 February 2013.
Lewis operated as ‘The Lewis Partnership’ or ‘The Medway Partnership’ from premises in Gillingham, Kent and at the time of his arrest was working at Lovetts Property Services, estate agents in Broadstairs, Kent.
Tracey McDermott, director of enforcement and financial crime at the FCA, said: “We banned Lewis because of the risk he posed to consumers and the markets. Where someone flouts such a ban we will have no hesitation about taking the strongest possible action against them. People should be in no doubt that we mean business.”
Lewis will be sentenced on 12 July.